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UKIP

I've just been watching Nigel Farage do his party conference speech, railing against the Westminster establishment. As well as announcing they are welcoming in another MP from the Westminster establishment. For all that Nigel's "People's Army" pretend to be the plucky outsiders, their party bash is just another addition to the snoozefest that is party conference season. It's a kind of panto version of the main parties' events, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

In Manchester, where I live, we have to put up with the Spad invasion every year now, as the Tories and Labour switch turns. Not even the council seem to be able to tell the two apart; in the past they have put out exactly the same press release about the current party conference for two years running, just changing the name of the party. The feeling of dogged indifference in the city this year was palpable. The Manchester Evening News's Jennifer Williams summed up the mood on Twitter. "Trying to write column on Labour conference. Trying to resist urge to just write 'awful' 400 times".

Update: Three Netherlands MEPs have changed their vote, leaving UKIP as the ONLY party that supports ACTA.

Opposition to the secret ACTA treaty is spreading like wildfire. Today the members of the European Parliament had their say, as on a resolution against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, arguing that it flouts agreed EU laws on counterfeiting and piracy online. MEPs will go to the Court of Justice if the EU does not reject the leaked proposals which include draconian powers to censor the internet and disconnect net connections.

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